> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.optimazehq.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Unit economics

> Divide the cost of a node on your attribution model by a business metric to track cost per customer, per order or per request.

Finance teams already work in unit economics, cost per acquisition, cost to serve, cost per unit produced. OPTIMAZE applies the same idea to technology spend, it takes the cost attributed to a node and divides it by an outcome you measure, so a cost line becomes a figure you can compare across products and over time.

A unit economic is always **cost from a node ÷ a metric**. The cost comes from your [attribution model](https://docs.optimazehq.com/attribution.md), the metric comes from [business metrics](https://docs.optimazehq.com/business-metrics.md) or values you upload.

## Before you start

* An [attribution model](https://docs.optimazehq.com/attribution.md) with the node whose cost you want to measure.
* A [business metric](https://docs.optimazehq.com/business-metrics.md) for the denominator, or a CSV of values to upload.

## The Unit Economics page

Under **Measure**, select **Unit Economics**.

| Tab | What it lists |
| :- | :- |
| **Your unit economics** | Unit economics your organisation has created |
| **Prebuilt** | Unit economics OPTIMAZE derives from your billing data, such as `aws_vcpu_core_cost_per_day` and `aws_object_storage_gb_cost` |

![Prebuilt tab listing unit economics derived from AWS billing, with category, trend, latest value and status](https://mintcdn.com/optimaze/1GorH5batRwM9XiF/images/console/unit-economics-prebuilt.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=1GorH5batRwM9XiF\&q=85\&s=a570ab26d3db8e74a665e14df946c146)

Each unit economic shows its latest value, the change against the previous period, a trend, its **Status** (**Live** once data is flowing) and the date of its last data. Filter by **Status**, search by name, switch between card and table views, and use **Export** to download the list.

## Create a unit economic

1. Select **New unit economic**.
2. Enter a **Name**, for example *Cost per customer*.
3. Under **Cost from**, choose the **Attribution Graph** and the **Attribution Node** whose cost forms the numerator.
4. Under **Divide by**, choose one:
   * **Published metric**: pick a metric from **Metric**.
   * **Upload values**: select **Upload values** and upload a file of denominator values.
5. Open **More details** and set the **Owner**, **Currency**, **Unit Display Name** (for example *per customer*) and an optional **Description**. **Currency** and **Unit Display Name** are required.
6. Check the **Preview**, it shows the historical value of the unit economic once both sides are set.
7. Select **Create**.

![New unit economic builder with Name, Cost from (Attribution Graph and Attribution Node), Divide by and Preview](https://mintcdn.com/optimaze/1GorH5batRwM9XiF/images/console/unit-economics-builder.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=1GorH5batRwM9XiF\&q=85\&s=a36759d71c800f5391c72cda249385f1)

## Use unit economics elsewhere

* **Goals**: set a target on a unit economic linked to a node. See [Goals](https://docs.optimazehq.com/goals.md).
* **Overview**: unit economics you own appear on the [Overview](https://docs.optimazehq.com/overview.md) page.

## Troubleshooting

* **The Preview says "No value yet".** Both the cost and the denominator need to be set, and their date ranges need to overlap.
* **One unit economic shows an error.** Each unit economic is calculated separately, so an error on one does not stop the others loading. Check its node and metric still exist.


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